SEATTLE – Bryce Miller allowed two runs over six innings to pick up his first win since April 17, and the Seattle Mariners used a big first inning against Houston starter Framber Valdez to hold on for a 3-2 win over the Astros on Monday night.

Seattle scored three times in the first off Valdez and then leaned on its pitching to make the early lead stand up. Miller did his part and then turned it over to relievers Trent Thornton, Gabe Speier and Andrés Muñoz to close out the victory.

Muñoz got three outs for his 11th save.

Miller (4-5) had lost his last four decisions, including his past three starts. In his four previous May starts, Miller allowed 15 earned runs after yielding just eight runs over six starts during the first month of the season.

But he seemed to rediscover a bit of his dominant form from that first month, striking out six and walking a pair. Miller said part of the success was noticing batters being more aggressive on his pitches early in counts, forcing him to be better with his location.

“For me (it’s) just trying to make sure I’m still getting ahead, but with certain hitters in the lineup not making a mistake just trying to get ahead,” Miller said. “Being aggressive on the corner early and then working off of that.”

Miller cruised through the first four innings and retired 12 straight after issuing a walk to Kyle Tucker, the second batter of the game. But he ran into trouble in the fifth when he gave up three straight singles, the last coming from José Abreu, which scored Jake Meyers. Victor Caratini’s sacrifice fly plated another run and after Jose Altuve doubled, Miller escaped the jam by getting a groundout from Tucker.

Miller again pitched out of trouble in the sixth, putting two runners on before Jon Singleton flied out to the warning track in right-center to end the threat.

Abreu was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land ahead of Monday’s game and his single was his first big league hit since April 27. The 2020 AL MVP was batting .099 when he accepted an assignment to the minors on May 1.

All of Seattle’s offense came early. Meyers made a terrific sliding catch to rob Cal Raleigh of extra bases but it still resulted in a sacrifice fly. Ty France and Mitch Haniger followed with two-out RBI singles as Valdez faced eight batters in the first inning. He needed 43 pitches to get through the first two innings, but Seattle was unable to add on.

“We had all kinds of traffic and we had some good at-bats when we did have traffic out there. Unfortunately, sometimes the ball doesn’t land on the grass like you want it to,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.

Valdez (3-3) allowed just two baserunners over his final four innings on the mound and was able to get through six. He permitted six hits, struck out four and walked three.

“I thought it took him a little bit of time for his sinker to be down and to execute. He just wasn’t executing his pitches like he wanted to,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “Then after that he settled in and he threw a heck of a game.”

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One of the more intriguing moves of the Seattle Seahawks’ offseason was the acquisition of Washington Commanders starting quarterback Sam Howell.

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Seattle essentially traded back two draft picks to get Howell, sending third- and fifth-round draft picks while receiving fourth- and sixth-rounders from the Commanders. That move happened with the Seahawks still having a starter in Geno Smith, who’s signed through the 2025 season. The 33 year old’s contract carries a $26.4 million cap hit this season and it jumps to $38.5 million in 2025, according to Over The Cap. However, the team could save $25 million against the salary cap if it were to cut Smith before June 1 of next year.

Seattle’s investment of draft picks, specifically one of its two third-rounders in a year with no second-round picks, would suggest Seattle sees something in Howell. He may challenge Smith for reps this season, or he could be the team’s plan for beyond 2024.

Wide receiver Tyler Lockett, the longest-tenured Seahawks player, gave his thoughts about what he’s seen in Howell when he joined Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy this week.

“I think he’s a really great quarterback, man,” Lockett said. “You could tell he’s calm and collected when he’s in the pocket. He makes the throws. He doesn’t really force anything.”

The 10-year NFL veteran also pointed out how the third-year QB is doing with learning new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb’s scheme.

“I think he’s learning the plays really well,” Lockett said, “and I think he’s doing a great job as he continues to try to find his rhythm in this offense.”

A good first impression

This offseason wasn’t the first time Lockett or many of his Seahawks teammates got a chance to see Howell in action up close. The North Carolina product and the Commanders visited Seattle in Week 10 last season, and Howell had one of his best games in a near upset of the Hawks.

Howell completed 29 of 44 passes for 319 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. It was one of three games that Howell threw three or more TD passes last season and the only without an interception.

“When we played against him, we saw what he could do with his legs, how he can extend plays or make a defense move up and collapse down,” Lockett said, “and then he just throws it to a running back or to a wide-open receiver.”

Listen to the full conversation with Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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The Seattle Mariners have been in the unique position this season of looking down at the perennial powerhouse Houston Astros in the AL West standings.

As Seattle spent the first two months jostling with the Texas Rangers for first place in the division, the Astros stumbled out of the gates to a stunning 12-24 start. At one point, the Mariners led Houston by 8.5 games.

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But all of a sudden, the Astros are right back in the mix. Houston has moved back into contention by winning 12 of its past 17 games, while Seattle is coming off a 4-6 East Coast road trip and Texas has stumbled to a 3-12 stretch. The first-place Mariners have widened their lead over the Rangers to three games, but their advantage over Houston has dwindled to just 3.5 games.

The Mariners and Astros open a four-game series in Seattle on Monday night, which marks the second of four series between the AL West rivals this season. Earlier this month, the M’s took two of three from Houston at Minute Maid Park. With the Astros coming to town, here are three things to know.

Starting rotation’s injury woes

At the center of Houston’s early-season struggles has been a starting rotation that’s been decimated by injury issues and problems on the back end. The Astros’ starters rank 27th in the majors in ERA (5.09), 30th in WHIP (1.48) and 25th in opponents’ batting average (.259).

Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander missed the first three weeks of the season with shoulder inflammation. Two-time All-Star Framber Valdez was sidelined for three weeks in April with elbow inflammation. Cristian Javier missed nearly a month with neck discomfort and is now dealing with forearm discomfort, which kept him from throwing his scheduled bullpen session Sunday, according to Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle. That could put Javier’s scheduled start Tuesday night in doubt.

In addition, the last spot or two in Houston’s rotation has been a mess. Hunter Brown has a 7.06 ERA, rookie Spencer Arrighetti has a 6.93 ERA and J.P. France had a 7.46 ERA before being sent down to Triple-A.

Valdez is scheduled to start Monday’s series opener and Verlander is slated to start Thursday’s series finale, but the Mariners should have favorable matchups in the other two games, with Javier’s start in question on Tuesday and Brown slotted for Wednesday. Seattle also gets a break in dodging 30-year-old Ronel Blanco, who has a 1.99 ERA through nine starts in a breakout third season. Blanco started on Sunday in his return from a 10-game suspension for having a foreign substance in his glove, and thus won’t be available to pitch in Seattle.

Tucker leading the way offensively

The Astros rank 10th in the majors with 4.6 runs per game, but they sit in the top five in most other major offensive categories. They rank first in batting average (.264), fifth in on-base percentage (.330), fourth in slugging percentage (.421), fourth in OPS (.751) and tied for fifth in home runs (64).

Two-time All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker has led the way, erupting for a torrid start that’s put him alongside New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge as an early AL MVP favorite. The 27-year-old Tucker has an MLB-leading 18 home runs, including 11 homers in his past 23 games. He also ranks second in slugging percentage (.624), second in OPS (1.033) and fourth in on-base percentage, trailing Judge by slim margins in all three categories. Tucker went just 1-for-10 with one homer in the three-game series against Seattle earlier this month, but don’t expect those types of numbers again this week.

Tucker is one of four Astros in the top 25 of the AL in OPS, along with second baseman Jose Altuve (.821), shortstop Jeremy Peña (.803) and outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (.799). Alvarez’s numbers are a bit down from his otherworldly stats the past two seasons, but he’s still a massive threat in the heart of Houston’s order — as the Mariners know all too well. Third baseman Alex Bregman, however, is off to the worst start of his career. The two-time All-Star is batting just .210 with a .601 OPS, which is nearly 250 points below his career average.

Hot-and-cold bullpen

The Astros’ bullpen was a major issue early in the season. Through May 8, Houston relievers ranked 24th in ERA (4.71) and 27th in WHIP (1.42). Since then, however, the unit has been among the best in the majors. The Astros have an MLB-best 1.60 bullpen ERA since May 9, which is 0.73 better than the next-closest team. They also have a 0.95 WHIP over that span, which ranks second in the majors.

The most dramatic turnaround in Houston’s bullpen belongs to five-time All-Star closer Josh Hader, who signed a five-year, $95 million contract with the Astros in free agency this past offseason. Hader struggled to a 6.14 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in his first 15 relief appearances this season, which included giving up a tiebreaking homer to Cal Raleigh in the ninth inning of Seattle’s 5-4 comeback win in the May 5 series finale in Houston. But after that outing, Hader regained his usual dominance. The hard-throwing left-hander has allowed just one run, two hits and two walks in 9 1/3 innings since May 9, while striking out 14 of the 32 batters he’s faced over that stretch.

First pitch Monday night is at 6:40 p.m. You can listen to all the action on Seattle Sports 710 AM or on the Seattle Sports app.

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